Ah... Feb 25... marks my parents' 25th wedding anniversary. We visited Paco Park (where they got married) and Manila Hotel (where they held the reception) to see how time has treated both these venues. Paco Park is well preserved and maintained. Both my mom and dad agree that its the same charming little hamlet in the middle of downtown manila. The chapel has an elliptical plan (like the one we're working on) and the gardens (designed by IP Santos) are very well kept. Too bad we have no photos to share of the place.
Manila Hotel on the other hand has crashed a long way down from the height of its original splendor. A combination of Manila's shifting urban focal points, market forces and very bad taste/planning by its current ownership has turned the once prestigious Manila Hotel into budget choice for travellers who couldn't care less about its inherent value. But despite all the modifications, one can only do so much to ruin the hotel... because it still is inherently beautiful because the core/original structure's scale and proportions are still intact... a beautiful face/body doesn't need embellishment, just as no amount of excess trappings will ever cover a truly beautiful structure.
I've been busy with work, board review and sidelines... review happens MWF 6-9 at Espana, and Saturdays up north near UP. The irony is, I'm learning a lot more from the classes that I originally thought were lousy because of the physical facilities and 150 pax class size. I'm starting to feel a bit shortchanged with the other review center, but I'm keeping my hopes up, maybe they do have a few things up their sleeve.
The chapel is chugging along well. We'll be starting the formal coordination with consultants soon. Sidelines are dragging along as well.
Oh... I've also met good people during the review classes. Particularly up in UP. The world is really small. The guy I was sitting next to in review class happens to be a good friend of Paolo (who is a good friend, and was an intellectual sparring partner when he was in UST) Anyway, we were talking about Rand's book: "The Fountainhead" and he told me that Pao lent him his old, tattered, margin-noted copy... which I actually lent/gave to Paolo. And I found out that my copy got passed around even more, before it finally rested with him. See? Small world. I'm just glad I did my part in spreading a little bit more of architectural/design idealism among my peers.
Also, I got the biggest surprise of my life when I found out that the company that Ayala was hoping to hook me up with for the internship prize... no longer exists... RMJM Philippines is no longer hooked up with the RMJM international firm, and is now renamed Aidea Phils. What sucks is how both the owner/president and the company guy (who pretends to do the coordinating/follow-up) told me that things would continue, when evidently this change removes all chances of that channel pushing through. They couldn't even tell me straight in the eye. I'm sure the company guy was well aware of Mr. RMJM's plans because these changes don't happen overnight... sure as hell they were dribbling this for a long time even before the actual name change. Well screw that... what goes around, comes around. Welcome to the real open market Mr. Architect, lets see you survive and float in the country's harsh design scene without your fancy-pants white-meat name. The truth is, thats all you had going for you. We're (our firm and yours) are on equal footing now. And you can suck-up/brown-nose, pr all you want, but at the end of the day... its your work that matters.
Anyway, that's all for now, gotta get back to real life and slug it out. Wish me luck and I do hope you include me/all of us in your collective prayers. We'll be needing them... I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw the opening section on structural review on the boards... tsk tsk...
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